A major search is underway for an Australian photographer who has been missing for more than one week in a national park where she often captures the wild horses living there.
Police are searching for 48-year-old photographer Lovisa Sjoberg who was last seen driving a hire car to Kosciuszko National Park in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales (NSW), Australia on October 15.
According to Australian news outlets, Sjoberg is a photographer and activist known for documenting the wild horses or “brumby” that populate the Kosciuszko National Park for the last five years.
Sjoberg is reportedly known to frequent the national parks around the Snowy Mountains to photograph the free-roaming feral horses for her Instagram page @Brumby_Strong.
The search began on Monday evening after the car hire company noticed that the vehicle that Sjoberg had rented had been due to be returned six days earlier.
According to ABC News, the car hire company tracked the photographer’s vehicle location using GPS. The company realized that Sjoberg’s vehicle had been stationary for six days and notified the police.
Police were first alerted to Sjoberg’s disappearance when a hire car company reported that the photographer’s missing vehicle had been stationary for six days.
The hire car was located by police near Kiandra Courthouse in the north-eastern section of Kosciuszko National Park.
Sjoberg was last seen driving the vehicle at 7 a.m. on October 15. However, no one had spoken to the photographer for more than two weeks.
The multi-agency search for the photographer — which involves NSW Police, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) as well as State Emergency Services (SES) in Australia — will continue. A group of locals are also reportedly set to join the search on horseback.
Monaro Police District Acting Inspector Woods says that Sjoberg is “a capable hiker” who is “used to going into the Kosciuszko National Park.” However, the terrain is challenging to search.
“It’s a big area,” Acting Inspector Woods tells ABC News.
“We still need to have assets on the ground — as in people walking — just to get to those places where other machines can’t get to.”
According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, temperatures in the area surrounding Kosciuszko National Park dropped as low as 32 degrees Fahrenheit overnight this week.
NSW Police are asking people to keep an eye out for anything that might assist with the search for the photographer. Sjoberg is described as being of Caucasian appearance, with an olive complexion, black hair, and brown eyes.
Anyone with information into her whereabouts is urged to contact Monaro Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 (Australian telephone number).
Image credits: Header photo via NSW Police.